Thursday, March 25, 2010

Love your morning cup of Joe but hate what it does to your stomach? Like many people, you may simply have a sensitive stomach that reacts to a combination of chemicals found in coffee. Don't worry though, you may just be in luck soon as Austrian researchers have isolated a compound that may inhibit stomach acid production during coffee drinking!

The combination of caffeine and a few other chemicals naturally found in coffee appears the be the culprit when it comes to discomfort from stomach acid production. The researchers have found, however, that another chemical produced during longer roasting periods, naturally occurring in dark roasts like espresso, actually inhibits stomach acid production. The researchers believe that by simply tweaking the processing technology and adding in this extra chemical to lighter roasts, there is the potential that all roasts could be more stomach-friendly.

These preliminary studies were done on human cells in isolation, so it is unclear as to whether the same effects will be found in clinical trials. However, other scientists believe that there is usually strength in cell studies, and there is a definite potential that the same effects will be found in human trials.